Mikhail Lifshitz
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Lifshitz ' onMouseout='HidePop("8123")' href="/topics/Melitopol">Melitopol
, Tavria (Crimea
) – September 28, 1983, Moscow
) was a Soviet Marxian
literary critic
and philosopher of art. As an academic philosopher, Lifshitz served as an executive member of Soviet Academy of Sciences from 1975. In the early 1930s he was a close associate of György Lukács.
, a Crimea
n city then part of Imperial Russia
, Lifshitz began higher education as an art student at the Vkhutemas
state studios of higher art and technology in Moscow
in the early 1920s. By the close of the decade, he had already developed strong disagreements with his classically oriented
instructors. Electing to pursue an analysis of aesthetics from a fundamentally Marxist perspective instead, Lifshitz enrolled in Moscow's Marx-Engels Institute, where he first developed a working relationship with the great Marxist philosopher György Lukács in 1930.
By 1937, his productivity had decreased significantly; Lifshitz produced almost no published work in the repressive climate of the most intense years of Stalinism
. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
Lifshitz entered the Second World War as a Red Army
volunteer.
His post-war career as a critic was marked by considerable controversy. Lifshitz's mid- to late-1950s writings about socialism and the course of Soviet society in particular provoked the ire of the established figures of Soviet intellectual life: although Soviet publishers would continue to produce his work, Lifshitz's independence from the party's norms led to his expulsion as a member. The same time-frame was also a period of Lifshitz's collaboration with the Soviet philosopher Evald Ilyenkov
.
Lifshitz's main object of criticism in the 1960s was the modernist
movement in the arts. From a political vantage point, Lifshitz, despite his criticism of the Soviet system, remained a strong proponent of Marxist-Leninist
socialism
.
Lifshitz died in Moscow on September 28, 1983, eight years after his election to the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious academic organization within the Soviet Union.
The vast majority of his work remains untranslated. One book on aesthetics, The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx, was published in the West in 1980.
Melitopol
Melitopol is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River that flows through the eastern edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman, which eventually joins the Sea of Azov....
, Tavria (Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
) – September 28, 1983, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Soviet Marxian
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
literary critic
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and philosopher of art. As an academic philosopher, Lifshitz served as an executive member of Soviet Academy of Sciences from 1975. In the early 1930s he was a close associate of György Lukács.
Biography
Born on July 23, 1905 in MelitopolMelitopol
Melitopol is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River that flows through the eastern edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman, which eventually joins the Sea of Azov....
, a Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
n city then part of Imperial Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Lifshitz began higher education as an art student at the Vkhutemas
VKhUTEMAS
Vkhutemas ) was the Russian state art and technical school founded in 1920 in Moscow, replacing the Moscow Svomas. The workshops were established by a decree from Vladimir Lenin with the intentions, in the words of the Soviet government, "to prepare master artists of the highest qualifications for...
state studios of higher art and technology in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in the early 1920s. By the close of the decade, he had already developed strong disagreements with his classically oriented
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
instructors. Electing to pursue an analysis of aesthetics from a fundamentally Marxist perspective instead, Lifshitz enrolled in Moscow's Marx-Engels Institute, where he first developed a working relationship with the great Marxist philosopher György Lukács in 1930.
By 1937, his productivity had decreased significantly; Lifshitz produced almost no published work in the repressive climate of the most intense years of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
Lifshitz entered the Second World War as a Red Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
volunteer.
His post-war career as a critic was marked by considerable controversy. Lifshitz's mid- to late-1950s writings about socialism and the course of Soviet society in particular provoked the ire of the established figures of Soviet intellectual life: although Soviet publishers would continue to produce his work, Lifshitz's independence from the party's norms led to his expulsion as a member. The same time-frame was also a period of Lifshitz's collaboration with the Soviet philosopher Evald Ilyenkov
Evald Ilyenkov
Evald Vassilievich Ilyenkov was a Marxist author and Soviet philosopher who did original work on the materialist development of Hegel's dialectics...
.
Lifshitz's main object of criticism in the 1960s was the modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
movement in the arts. From a political vantage point, Lifshitz, despite his criticism of the Soviet system, remained a strong proponent of Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
.
Lifshitz died in Moscow on September 28, 1983, eight years after his election to the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious academic organization within the Soviet Union.
The vast majority of his work remains untranslated. One book on aesthetics, The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx, was published in the West in 1980.
Selected works
In English translation:- The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx. Longwood Publishing Group, 1980.
External links
- "Михаил Александрович Лифшиц"–A Russian-language biographical sketch by Dmitriy Gutov.